Firestorm - Thursday

My sister Moe who lives in El Cajon, not far from San Diego, has been keeping me updated on the raging fires in California.

Tuesday
Wednesday

Thursday - 1:17 PM

Staying in Today

Today there's quite a bit of smoke in the air here. I have a cough and I feel it down in my lungs so I'm staying indoors today.

I did quickly run out to my next door neighbours to see how they and their family were faring. Rosalie was born and raised in Lakeside and has approx. 200 family members in an around the area. Her daughter was evacuated from the town of Ramona north/east of Lakeside and although her house is okay, she hasn't been allowed to go back. The water has been cut off and the air quality is very poor. She's been out since Sunday.

In Poway, Rosalie told me that two people who didn't leave their homes were found dead today. I guess it was on the news but I didn't see that part.

Rosalie also has a daughter that lives in Poway but she's okay except that her father-in-law, who was also evacuated, can't be found. They have no idea where he is, so they are naturally concerned. He was supposed to be in one of the evacuation centers but he left there and they don't know where he went.

The picture that I'm sending was taken on Sunday when the fires were just starting. It's a view of the San Diego Country Estates up near Ramona. Rosie's daughter took it before she left her house.

Today they are evacuating parts of Lakeside on the north side near El Capitan mountain. I gave you an idea of the smoke on the mountains with the picture I took from my car and now it's apparently worse. Enough so that they feel the need to evacuate the area.

There is some progress though. Controlled fires are being set by the firefighters in order to contain the spread and all the news Tv channels have resumed their normal daily programming. Sherry's house is still safe as the firefighters, so far, have been able to keep the fire out of Jamul. For now that's all. When this is over, maybe I can get some aftermath pictures. Will let you know.

Thurs. 4:55 PM

No notice to evacuate El Cajon has been given. I don't expect to hear that there will be. Rosalie also sent me this url of the Ramona Sentinel newspaper. It has a photo slideshow.

Thurs. 5:22 PM

Rosalie is sending me some more pictures that her daughter took from her backyard. When I have them all I'll send them on.

Don't worry about El Cajon. Business is going on as usual. Stores are all open, post office and the trash people just picked up my garbage. If they are out working then that's a good sign.

Thurs. 5:30 PM

Here's two more pictures of the fire from Rosalie's daughter's backyard in Ramona.

YYC: Wow. I wouldn't like to see that (above) peeking over my backyard fence.

Thurs. 9:15 PM

Rosalie's daughter tried to get in touch with a woman who is in her house on the estates but can't get through. I do know that there is a problem with the water supply but the residents are really angry about not being let back into their homes. If you go to www.signonsandiego.com and click on Ramona residents, it will give you some anwers for your reader.

I'm hoping that Rosie's daughter will get through to this woman, her name is Lee either tonight or tomorrow. Will let you know.


Thurs. 10:52 PM

There was a report just now on TV about allowing the people back into Ramona and their homes. It's a go but there are conditions to being allowed back. They cannot use any water at all. Bottled water will be brought in to the people allowed to go back home as well as porta potties. They've arranged for water pump trucks in case of fire flare-ups.

Apparently the Water Pump Station was burned and the fuses blown. The water pressure is extremely low and until they can get the pump station up and running, they feel that they can't protect the town if fire should threaten it again. However, at the moment there is no threat and I guess that's what got a lot of people riled up. They couldn't understand why they couldn't at least sleep in their own beds if there is no threat of fire.

The cars were lined up for miles on Hwy 67 into Ramona, people trying to get home and tempers flared. There was a lot of anger and frustration.

One man had a shotgun and said he would shoot his way past the blockade. One woman said that she would never let these morons keep her out of her house again. She said the only way she would leave was if the fire was licking at her door. Another man said that he had no more money to go somewhere else to stay.

Anyway, you tell your reader that Ramona is at this moment being re-populated. Don't know what to say about the phone service.

Firestorm - Wednesday

My sister Moe, who lives in El Cajon, surrounded by the California firestorm, has been updating me on the situation. Tuesday's notes.

Wed. 9:41 AM





















A few pictures of different fire areas and scenes. One is of Gov. Schwarzenegger viewing the destruction at Lake Arrowhead.


Today when I got out of bed, I could smell smoke in the air, due to the change of wind direction, but it's not too bad. The fires are on the way to being contained although some of them, where there are no building structures, have been left to burn out by themselves.

The Santa Ana winds that had been blowing at gale force up to 70 miles per hour are now dying down and being replaced by cool sea breezes. It is said that it's expected to be over by Thursday.

So far a series of 16 fires (CTV's Joy Malbon, who talked to Canada AM) said it was up to 20 different fires from Malibu to the border of Mexico.

South/East: The Harris fire is still burning but appears to be somewhat contained. The evacuation area there extended all the way from Julian on the north side of Fwy 8 to Tecate, Mexico.

North: The Witch fire is also still burning around Escondido and Palomar Mountain area and may merge with a smaller fire in the Pauma Valley area as they are only less than a mile apart.

Also, The Margarita fire, which threatened and burned acreage at Camp Pendleton is still burning. Military personnel and families had to be evacuated and Fwy 5 is closed in that area. One firefighter said it won't burn out until it reaches the ocean.

Yay! Canada: The world's largest water bomber, the Canadian-owned Martian Mars, has been sent on a private contract to help firefighters as well as a Quebec based Team flying 2 Canadian tankers has been here on an annual 3 month winter contract.

Here are the latests statistics, according to the L.A. Times:
• 420,424 acres or 656 square miles burned
• 1,155 homes destroyed
• 881,500 people evacuated
• 1 person killed (five other deaths linked to the fires)

Wed. 10:22 AM

El Cajon, where I live, is feeling some fallout from the fires.

Because the wind has shifted, the air is smokey smelling and this would of course cause a danger to those who have breathing problems.

I just called over to 24 hour fitness, a gym that I started to go to, and got a message that they are "closed today due to unsafe conditions caused by the fires"

El Cajon, as it's name states, is a 'box'. It's surrounded by hills and mountains. A box canyon if you will so anytime the wind changes direction, the smoke will not just blow over the top of the city, it seems to fall into it. I looked outside and the mountains are hazy but that's not uncommon as a lot of fog normally collects on the mountains but it's darker in colour so that means it's probably got a lot of smoke mixed with it.

I was going to go for a walk in the park with Mocha but think it's better if I stay indoors and try not to breathe in so much of the polluted air. Take care and go outdoors and breathe in some of that wonderful Canadian air for me, okay?

YYC: Mocha is Moe's elderly toy poodle. I don't like hearing about all this smoke, but maybe the "box" is protection? Our sister-in-law in Perth, ON says that she heard on the news that an animal shelter has been set up in a field near El Cajon, and she sees that as possibly a good sign that where Moe lives is safe.

Wed. 11:31 AM

Thanks to the commenter on Tuesday - but it is the ones who have lost so much that need the prayers.

El Cajon is definitely safe. Except as I said earlier the air quality first thing in the morning is not so good. It does burn off during the day and already seems to be dissipating. Looking out my window, the mountains still have quite a bit of murky haze around them but not as much as earlier.

I'll try to go out this afternoon. There is an animal shelter at Lindo Lakes County Park not too far from where I live and also one at Gillespie Air Field. I'll see if they'll let me in to take some pictures. Most parks are closed.

The above photos were found at Voice of America (Schwarzenegger), Yahoo (burning house) and I think CNN. Nothing was said as to who took the pictures. They get info from several local sources.

YYC: 12:03 PM - I just heard on the news that people are fleeing San Diego county, and that 5000 are homeless there. That El Cajon "box" needs a lid!

Wed. 4:12 PM

YYC: Moe took some wonderful photos of refugee animals (I especially like the peace horse). It's sad to think how many gorgeous specimens like these didn't survive the fire.

Moe: Took a ride out to Lakeside to the rodeo grounds ...

... where they have sheltered some animals, mostly horses. They wouldn't let me in to take pictures but as I was leaving I noticed that some of the horses were tied to the fence so I was able to get a few pictures of them. They seemed contented and well taken care of.

Then I went to the other shelter near Gillespie Air Field. It was open, no fences so I was just able to walk in. I spotted several horses that were being cared for by their owners and asked a lady if I could take some pictures for your website. She was very co-operative and also very talkative and doesn't mind having her picture on your site at all. In fact just the opposite. She was delighted that you would take this kind of interest.

I don't know if she was normally this talkative or if it was adrenaline she was running on but it was hard to stop her. Her name is Sherry and she lives on a ranch in Jamul that is being threatened by the Harris fire which is only 10% contained, so they had to leave. Jamul is a community of farmers and ranchers in the east country and along with Julian and other small communities in that area, people have had to evacuate.

Sherry told me that she stayed until she was forced to leave. She could see the fire coming up the mountain behind their house. She and her daughter took what horses she could (she had to leave five behind and she wasn't allowed back up to get them) along with 2 dogs,2 birds and 2 cats. She is hoping that her house and the horses left behind are safe but she hasn't heard anything as yet. She said that deciding what things to pack and take was very hard for her. So much left behind that she would just love to have taken with her.

She packed 4 horses in a two horse trailer ...

... believe it or not in order to leave as fast as possible. I'm assuming she made more than one trip because she had 6 horses and one 3 month old colt with her. They are icelandic horses, nice and mellow, friendly, and seem to not even be bothered about being uprooted at all. I got slobbered all over by the black one (below):

The hood over the horses eyes is to keep the smoke and ash that's in the air from irritating them. They can see through them so they're not blind with them on.

She was full of praise for all the volunteers who came out to help and for the overwhelming generosity of the San Diego and area people. The supplies and money just keep pouring in.

Qualcomm stadium where a lot of people are staying actually turned down some donations because they had more than enough and no more space to put it.

The picture (below) that shows mountain with smoke was taken from my car just one mile down the road from where I live. I was on my way to Lakeside.

Just saw that you had heard that people were fleeing San Diego county.

I do know that there are people at the airport leaving. Possibly to go to relatives in other states because they no longer have a home here.

Lindbergh field (airport) has a special line set up just for these people for easier check in and boarding their flights. I'm sure that at some point they'll be back. I don't believe it's a permanent exodus. Just my thoughts, though.

And most definitely, El Cajon could use a lid on it O)

Wed. 5:51 PM

The Harris fire is all around Jamul but as of now no structures have been lost, so Sherry's house is safe for the moment. The firefighters are doing their best to keep it from spreading into Jamul itself.

I just heard that the reason that this fire is still burning so fiercely is because Cal Trans had a report that one of the helicopters that was fighting the fire was down. They recalled all the helicopters and grounded them until they knew more. The report was unsubstantiated, all the helios were accounted for and Cal Trans released the m back into the fire zone.

They haven't said whether this report was on purpose by some crank or a miscommunication or how they received this report. In the meantime, time was lost and the fire got away from them and spread more quickly. They are hoping to have this fire surrounded by Nov 4th, so still a long road ahead.

The Witch fire and the smaller one that I said would come together, have merged and burn near Pauma Valley and the Palomar mountain region. There is an Indian Reservation there also.

Camp Pendelton and area are still burning, again fire spreading because of large propane tanks exploding.

The Santa Ana is now gone. Hallelujah!! and the winds all over the county have turned from an easterly direction to beautiful, cooling breezes from the west. So things are looking up and hopefully these fires will soon be completely contained. The temperatures which have been in the high 80's will start to cool. With that the humidity level should rise and that will also help.

Thursday

The California Firestorm

My sister Moe who lives in El Cajon, not far from San Diego, has been keeping me updated on the raging fires in California. Thought you might be interested.

Tues. 2:08 PM

The fire that is south of me has hit an area called Spring Valley. The people there had to be evacuated today. It's headed toward the Sweetwater reservoir.

I don't expect it to come this far. This seems to be a pretty safe area. The air is fairly clear, don't smell smoke at all, so hopefully we'll be safe.

The fires are east, south and north with a Santa Ana wind coming from the east over the mountains toward the west. That fans the fires toward the ocean.

The east fire is approx. 40 miles away and the north fire is approx. 30 to 40 miles away.

The one that is south is closer, within 15 miles, and although I don't expect it to cause any problems here, it's still a little scary.

I'm not panicking yet although I've thought of packing a few things and heading toward San Diego but don't know what I'd do when I reached there. Everything is full of people and animals who have already been evacuated.

Anyway, we'll see what happens, the winds are starting to slowly change back to a westerly wind blowing east so hopefully that should help to keep the fires in check.

A lot of destuction by these fires. It's devastating enough to watch. I can only imagine what these poor people are going through.

I replied to Moe that I'd heard the fire was headed toward San Diego and I thought she should pay a visit to Canada for the duration.

Tues. 4:05 PM

I very quickly drew a very, very rough map. Hope it's not too confusing. Not my finest art work.

I'm sorta surrounded with only a westerly route to downtown San Diego open should I need to escape. Most of the other routes are closed.

The south fire which is also the one attacking Spring Valley and Bonita would probably hit the south of San Diego if it was able to get that far. There are other communities down there. Coming north from the Mexican border between the 5 fwy and the 805 fwy which run parallel to each other are San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Chula Vista, National City, San Diego along the coastal area.

Spring Valley, Bonita, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, are east and more inland.

There are fires in San Ysidro, Otay Mesa (The Harris fire) and Chula Vista, Spring Valley and parts of Bonita. The fire seems to be south and south/east whereas San Diego is North/West of these areas. If the winds stay true to blowing from the north/easterly direction towards the west then I suppose San Diego could be in trouble as well.

The other areas,Lemon Grove, La Mesa, National City, for the time being seem to be safe. The fire would have to go through all before it actually got to San Diego proper. El Cajon where I live is north/east of these regions. So still quite a ways from me.

The northern fires which have spread west and are now starting to hit the La Jolla Indian reservation area and could possibly spread into La Jolla itself from there. La Jolla is a suburb of San Diego on the North side. I doubt that the fires would come south from there but if the winds stay true to coming from the north/east anything is possible. Unless of course the winds have shifted. I haven't heard if they have.

I'm hoping that I'm relaying this info correctly. If you want to post it, go right ahead but please with a disclaimer. I wouldn't want to mislead your readers in any way.

And yeah, Canada would be the place to be right now but Canada isn't any safer in the winter with ice storms, hail as large as your head, etc. but thanks. I know I've got a place to run to if I need to.

One of our local TV News websites has streaming video that you can watch as well listen to. It's at www.kusi.com

Tues. 6:33 PM

They've managed to contain fires in certain areas but others are still raging. In the Del Dios area up in the northern part of the county, they've been trying to keep large propane tanks that people have in their backyards from exploding and spreading the fire to houses that haven't been burnt. In the background you can hear tanks exploding that they haven't been able to get to.

Some areas, like Rancho Bernardo, the people are allowed to go back to their homes only to find that they aren't there anymore.

Those that are allowed to go back, although they're angry at the loss and of being forced out of their homes, when they find something in the rubble that hasn't been burnt, they are joyous. It's a mixed bag of feelings and being here, you can't help but feel it right along with them.

The humidity level has been so low and everything is really dry. We've had a five year drought here so you can imagine why these fires have taken hold so easily and quickly.

Right now the winds seem to be calm. The National Guard arrived today with helicopters and waterdrops, so that is a good sign that maybe these fires will soon be contained.

Yesterday, according to one news reporter, it was an eerie quietness, with just the crackling of the flames. Today it's hustle and bustle with the helicopters and additional help from the National Guard and firefighters from northern California and Nevada. People yesterday who wandered in numbness and total unbelief, today sobbed openly with relief when they saw the helicopters and the water dropping over the fires.

I asked Moe if this was the worst in all the years she's lived in California (around 25 years).

Tues. 7:59 PM

It's hard to say at this point but I don't think it is.

The Cedar fire in 2003 was the worst since I've been here. That fire burned over 280,000 acres of land, destroyed over 2200 homes and killed 15 people which included a fireman.

These fires that are burning now are separate from one another and although 5 firemen and numerous other people have been injured, there's only been one casualty so far. A fireman was killed.

The Cedar fire was one great big one.

Tues. 9:15 PM

The Harris fire is starting to recede in the Chula Vista and Spring Valley areas. The reporter on News 8 said he met up with some of the firemen and they were absolutely giddy. They said that the winds were blowing from on shore (ocean breezes blowing inland) instead of off shore and said this has saved over 2000 homes in the area and the people are going to be allowed to go back home.

So things are starting to look up. Looking at other fire pictures on TV, the flames appear to be going straight up in the air instead of being blown horizontally. I would think that's a good sign. The winds are calm at the moment but they always die down at night and pick up again in the morning. But with no wind blowing the flames where you don't want them helps a lot. There are still some fires that are still burning quite fiercely and some fires that are more contained at the moment. It is expected that the Santa Ana wind will subside tomorrow, however, that doesn't mean that we are out of the woods. The coastal winds could cause the fire to turn in a different direction.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Wednesday's notes